Yesterday the day included a trip round an underground city. There are eight layers in Derinkuyu and a lot of narrow low tunnels. All carved out of rock and used for protection in times of war. The tunnels did not bother me as much as I expected except for one which was steps -hundreds of them with no passing places. So I was out of breathe and exhausted by the time I got to the top and had to insist on a five minute rest. Fortunately for my self esteem, some others suffered the same way. I took no photos because it would only be rock faces. A photo cannot show the 3D ness of the place. I noticed there were no decent postcards for sale either. A major plus was a small market outside which had a few notebooks bound in leather. I had to have one!
It has a very complicated lock.
Later we walked along a valley, high above the river. The path was not the safest in the world and various people came to grief.
View seen when not watching my feet.
In the afternoon, we were taken to a Government carpet place. Definitely a show place but interesting in that they use nothing but natural dyes. Rose hips, walnuts, tobacco, indigo. The guide was unhelpful about mordants. The carpets were done to various standards with matching prices and there were some stunning silk ones whose price was out of my league. However I did buy a wool one of the highest standard. Dark Blue with a field of flowers. Four foot by six. It is being shipped home. As salesmen, they were superb. If you were the least bit interested, you plus carpet of interest were removed to another room on the grounds that it would be seen better by itself. And the salesman had two assistants running about fetching other carpets for you to view. I had trouble deciding between two and fetched some others of the group to help. Priscilla Lowrie said 'Shut your eyes and see it with your furniture round' and someone else 'Ask your self first Do I like it? Then ask yourself Do I love it?' And that settled it.
Skeins of natural dyed silk
Two carpet silks about14 inches wide
A carpet done in undyed wool relying on the natural fleece colour for the pattern.
After that, there was another walk but some of us had enough of walking so we sat on couches covered with carpets under an awning in the middle of nowhere and drank tea and admired the view. We were told later that the walk was dreadfully dangerous so we three felt very smug. Then to Goreme where we are staying two nights. But first to a Turkish bath in an ancient building where we were steamed and thumped and polished and definitely ready for dinner.
I have never been keen on moving every day. It is not worth unpacking but you always need something which has got to the bottom of the case so you have to repack anyway. And as for getting washing dry!! The best place was Pamukkale where I had a balcony. I put the washing outside and it was dry in an hour. Today I have the windows open and the washing outside.
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